Laughton’s Strong Game Lifts Flyers to Victory Over Jets

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers have consistently been keeping pace in the standings with regular wins to break up the losses on the schedule. But teams that really make a statement entering the playoff race go in winning in bunches.

The Flyers had not had a winning streak of three games or more since before the holiday break, but they extended their current run to three games with a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers wasted no time getting on the board. Just 2:06 into the game, Ivan Provorov led an end-to-end rush and centered to Scott Laughton in the slot. He fired it off the far post and in to give the Flyers the early lead.

At 9:03, Laughton was at it again. Laughton got the puck as a penalty to Sean Couturier expired and led a 3-on-1 up ice. Laughton cut to the middle and threw one toward the net that deflected and slid across the line to make it 2-0 for his second goal of the game.

The Jets turned up play from there, but the Flyers came out of the first period with the 12-10 lead in shots. 

The Jets came out firing in the second, taking 10 shots on goal in the first six minutes of the period. Carter Hart remained solid, preserving the Flyers two-goal lead.

With 5:10 remaining in the period, the Flyers able to extend the lead on a broken play. Couturier found the loose puck and lifted a shot to the corner of the net to make it 3-0 with his 19th goal of the season.

The Jets were finally able to capitalize with a goal with just 1:56 left in the period. Josh Morrissey took a feed from Mark Scheifele and fired a rocket to the top corner to cut the Flyers lead back to two.

Shots through two periods were 25-16 in favor of Winnipeg.

The Jets got an early power play in the third and were able to cut into the lead again. Patrik Laine was left open at the left circle for a one-timer and his blast scorched the back of the net to make it a 3-2 game.

After the Flyers nearly scored and drew a penalty, their first full power play of the game could not convert, but shortly after the Flyers scored off a face-off. Robert Hagg fired a shot that was deflected in by Tyler Pitlick to give the Flyers a two-goal lead again. 

The Flyers locked down the result from there, finishing off their third straight victory. With losses by Pittsburgh and Washington, the Flyers moved to within three points of the division lead.

Hart finished with 27 saves in the win. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves in the loss.

In addition to Laughton's two-goal game, Justin Braun had three assists. 

The Flyers return to action on Tuesday night when they host the San Jose Sharks at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Scott Laughton (11) (Ivan Provorov, Justin Braun) 2:06
• PHI Laughton (12) (Braun) 9:03

2nd Period

• PHI Sean Couturier (19) (Jake Voracek, Matt Niskanen) 14:50
• WPG Josh Morrissey (5) (Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers) 18:04

3rd Period

• WPG Patrik Laine (26) PP (Neal Pionk, Blake Wheeler) 3:00
• PHI Tyler Pitlick (7) (Robert Hagg, Braun) 9:34

Game Statistics